Improvement in apparatus for lighting street-lamps



M. FALOON 8 D. H. ISEMINGER. APPARATUS FOR LIGHTING STREET-LAMPS.

P'ate nt'ed-Deo. 2a, 1875.

IN V'EJV' TOR 277$ Jam,

W'ILVESSES v By UNITED STATES PATENT EEIoE.

MATTHEW FALOON AITD DAVID H. ISEMINGER, OF BLOO MINGTON, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN APPARATUS FOR LIGHTING STREET-LAMPS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 171,555, dated December 28, 1875; application filed December 3, 1875.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, MATTHEW FALOON and DANIEL H. ISEMINGER, of Bloomington, in the county of McLean and in the State of Illinois, have jointly invented certain newand useful Improvements in Apparatus for Automatically Lighting Gas in Street and other Public Lamps; and do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, making a part of this specification.

The nature of our invention consists in the construction and arrangement of an apparatus for automatically lighting and extinguishing gas-lights of any number simultaneously by an extraordinary pressure of gas in the pipes, as will be hereinafter more fully set forth.

In order to enable-others skilled in the art to which our invention appertains to makeand use the same, we will now proceed to describeits construction and operation, referring to the annexed drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a front view of our invention..

Fig. 2 is a rear view of the same.

A represents an ordinary gas-service pipe, with burner B. O is the usual stop-cock for turning on and off the gas. a is the stem or shank of said stop-cock, upon which are secured a plain wheel, D, and a ratchet-wheel, E, the former being located close to the burner. The rim of the wheel D is covered for a suitable distance by a guard, Gr, provided on one side with a tubular chamber, H, for containing explosive pills or pellets x w. The wheel D is intended to make only one-fourth of a revolution at a time, and is held at the four different points by a spring-pin, b, passing through a hole in the guard G, and entering a hole in the rim of the wheel. On the side of the wheel next to the burner, in the rim, are made two recesses or pockets, y y, directly opposite each other, as shown in Fig. 2. Back of the ratchetwheel E is an arm, I, placed loosely on the stem at, and provided on its front side with aspringpawl, d, to take into the teeth of the ratchetwheel. The arm I is, by a link or pivoted rod, U, connected with a piston-rod, K, attached to a piston, L, which is working inside of a cylinder, M, and the lower end of said cylinany desired time.

der is, by an elbow, N, connected with the gaspipe B.

In all gas-works there are certain means for creating an extraordinary pressure of gas at Our invention depends for its Working upon a sudden or extraordinary pressure of gas at a given time to compel a one-fourth revolution of the wheel D, and this onefourth revolution causes the lighting or extinguishing ot' the lamps simultaneously.

The operation is substantially as follows: Suppose itis desired to light all the gas-lamps 'of a city. Each lamp should be provided with an apparatus like the one above described. To accomplish this it is only necessary to create in any desired manner a sudden and unusual pressure upon the gas in the pipes, connecting with the burners desired to be lighted. In or dinary gasworks they have an engine for forcing the gas into a large reservoir, and the city is supplied from this reservoir by the pressure of weights operating upon the gas in the reservoir or tank. The sudden and unusual pressure required upon the gas in the pipes can be accomplished indirectly by forcing the gas inp to the reservoir or tank at the desired moment, or directly by means of a direct pipe leading from the engine to the main pipe, that conveys the gas from the reservoir to the different lights,

or in any other desired manner. The ordinary pressure of the gas does not affect the machine that is, does not cause a one-fourth revolution of the wheela onefourth revolution being all that can be accomplished by any one continuous pressure of gas. The ordinary pressure allows the machine to stand stationary, without motion. When the sudden and extraordinary pressure is made the gas presses the piston upward in the cylinder. hen the 'the cavity y, to a point opposite the burner,

long as this extraordinary or unusual pressure in the wheel allows what there is left of the should be supplied with a large number of said pills, and its outer end protected with a cap,

H, to keep them dry.

or its attachments heavier or lighter, as reried from the tubular chamber H, by means of and as said explosive pill or substance passes a roughened spring, P, on the side of the wheel, it explodes or ignites, and a blaze is thrown directly upon the burner through which,by the motion of the wheel, the gas is escaping. As

is continued the piston-rod and its attachments remain up; but as soon as this unusual pressure is diminished suflicientl y, either by the escape of gas through the burners or by a withdrawal of the excessive pressure created for the express purpose of lighting the lamps, said parts fall, and are ready to be raised again, when desired; and when so raised again, the next time they cause the turning of the wheel D another one-fourth of a revolution, which causes the gas-cock C to be turned to shut 0d the gas, the same as is done by turning the ordinary gas in common use. The chamber 3/ combustible material to drop out as it is turned to a point below the end of the guard G, and the chamber is thus made ready to receive a fresh combustible pill when it reaches the bottom of the tubular chamber H, which chamber The weight of the piston-rod and attachments should be such as to overcomethe ordinary pressure of the gas upon the pipes and piston, and this weight can be increased or diminished, as desired, by making the piston quired.

In place of a combustible pill, a match may 'be used, in which case the match may he made 'of wire or wood, with a combustible end, to be fed from a flat chamber, one match upon another, so that the bottom one only will fill the groove in the largewheel made to receive it.

The surface of the wheel in that case will have a groove acrossit to receive the match, and

the combustible end tobe brought in contact ed and extinguished simply by an increase of pressure on the gas in the pipes.

Having thus fullyv described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is i 1. In a mechanismi'or lighting and .extin guishing gas-lights byan increased pressure upon the gas in the pipes, a piston operating in a cylinder into which the gas is admitted, and the piston connected with the operating mechanism, substantially as herein set forth.

2. The combination ofthe burnerB, with gas- ,cock (-3, Wheel D, with chambers y y, and the roughened plate P, substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.

3. The combination of the wheel D, with chambers y y, guard G, tubular chamber H,

spring-pin b, and arm Lsubstantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.

4. The combination, with the gas-cock C, of the wheel'D, ratchet-wheel E, arm I, with spring-pawl d, connecting-link J, piston-rod K, and piston L, substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth. v

In testimony that we jointly claim the foregoing we have hereunto set our hands this 8th i day of November. 1575. MATTHEW FALCON.

DANIEL H. ISEMINGER. Witnesses:

THOS. SLADE,

R. F. EVANS. 

